Len Pasquarelli on Darren Howard

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; About a month ago, we opined in the &quot;Tip Sheet' that teams seeking a proven pass rusher in free agency might do well to look at New Orleans veteran end Darren Howard. The assessment was based on the supposition that ...

About a month ago, we opined in the "Tip Sheet' that teams seeking a proven pass rusher in free agency might do well to look at New Orleans veteran end Darren Howard. The assessment was based on the supposition that the Saints, who used the "franchise" marker to keep Howard around in 2004, wouldn't exercise the tag again on him. And that with former first-round ends Charles Grant and Will Smith as the starters, and Howard relegated to playing tackle over the second half of the season, New Orleans would not attempt to retain the five-year veteran. And now we say: Oops. It now seems, we have learned, that the Saints might slap the franchise tag on Howard for a second consecutive year, with no intentions of signing him to a long-term deal. It will cost the Saints a whopping $7.8 million (20 percent more than his "franchise" qualifying offer from a year ago) to "tag" Howard, but that seems to be the direction the club is headed. Despite just 12 starts in '04, and having lost time to injury, Howard still posted a team-best 11 sacks, tying his career high. Its glut of defensive ends aside, New Orleans realizes how tough it is to find proven pass rushers, and how you can never have enough of them.

We can\'t trade him unless we tag him Kool cause he is unrestricted. If we sign him, we will be responsible for the bonus associated with signing him. Also, if we were to tag him, I guarantee another team will have a deal on the table, and a contract ready. He is not guaranteesd the tagged salary once he is traded and his new team can work out a new contract, which I am sure again will be worked out before they decided to tag him. The Saints, hopefully, aren\'t dumb enough to blindly tag him.